Event Review: We Are FSTVL 2017 – Sunday
On the 26th of May, to the 28th of May, We Are FSTVL was scheduled, and to top it off, it was the events 5th anniversary too! The festival had also expended to now include a Friday of partying, and overnight camping options too. The event unveiled a line-up of at least 250 artists from various genres, and this was expected to bring in record-breaking numbers of 30,000 attendees.
As always, We Are FSTVL’s site oozes character, which included the brand new ‘Terminal’ mega-structure spanning 450ft in length, and 45ft high, which further featured 10 lasers, 1,200 lights, 10,000 fireworks and 24,000ft of LED, crazy right? Also dotted around the right was a ferris wheel and a helter-skelter slide, a row of silver hoops which people could walk under, or stand next to for a guilt-free selfie, and also the front-end of an aeroplane with ‘Aerodome’ down the side of it, which represents the location of the festival too.
Sunday incorporated stages and arenas including Terminal 1 – Paradise, Terminal 2 – We Are FSTVL, Terminal 3 – Cocoon, the Aerodome, the Big Top Bass – Hospitality, Clockwork Orange, the VIP Mainstage – Space On Tour, the Koppaberg Urban Forest – Paravana Project and Love Juice. Features on the line-up was an array of artists including Solomun, Dunk Dumont, Claptone, David Morales, Kydus, Siege, DJ Charlsey and many more. The biggest highlight of Sunday’s line-up was ‘Paradise’, which included wAFF, Eats Everything B2B Patrick Topping, Maya Jane Coles, Ricardo Villalobos, Dubfire, Hot Since 82, Steve Lawler B2B Skream B2B Richy Ahmed and Jamie Jones. If you find a festival arena which beats that for artists included, I’ll be very impressed!
These arenas and stages all had their own personal touch too, Cocoon was reminiscent of a stripped-back air hanger, the Hospitality tent was a two-tone big top tent, something you’d expect to see at a circus, the Relentless energy drinks DJ Booth was a two-tier structure with drinks available from the bottom, and a DJ booth on top, whilst the Urban Forest upon entry opened-up to feature a canopy-like tent covering the DJ booth, with wooden seating areas available, lampshades set-up like the ones you see in the streets in Paris and finally the Defected stage which was the outdoor ‘main stage’.
To furthermore show the evolution of We Are FSTVL this year, there was an increase in the amount of UK-originating Grime and Rap artists including legends such as Dizzie Rascal, Giggs, Mist and Bugzy Malone who performed on the ‘Terminal 2’ stage, and also Wiley who performed in the ‘Hospitality’ arena too. Personal highlights from the performances of the UK G’s included Dizzie Rascal playing his classic hits and his more recent releases including ‘Fix Up Look Sharp’, ‘Jus A Rascal’, ‘Knock Knock’ and ‘Sirens’, whilst Giggs also performed Drake’s ‘KMT’ which he features on and also ‘Lock Dah’ and ‘3 Wheel Ups’.
A set which was a personal favourite of mine was from Danish talent Rune Reilly Kolsch AKA Kolsch, who played a 90-minute set in the Cocoon arena. What made his set stand-out to me was his ability to create a musical journey full of feels, energy and intensity. This was achieved by weaving in and out of tracks which pack a punch, examples include Undercatt’s ‘Fututra’ and his recently released ‘PUSH’ and then his more uplifting tracks including his classic ‘Goldfisch’ and one of the biggest tracks of 2016 – his ‘Grey’ record, which was even kitted-out with what sounded like a nice intro edit featuring a flute too! If you haven’t experienced a Kolsch set, you need to!
For set of the day though, it goes to that naughty Northern double-act who go by the name of Solardo! Even thought their set time was at 12:30-14:30 in the Cocoon arena, stupidly early for an in-demand act, the guys who love a vibrant shirt smashed it! The arena rapidly filled-up with fans, and from start to finish, they were treated to some of the finest pumping Tech-House around, which got the crowd proper hyped! Set highlights include their remixes of ‘Techno (Not Techno)’ and ‘Margot’, their next release entitled ‘On The Corner’ via their Sola imprint, their unreleased ‘Fall Down’ and a sprinkle of emotion via ‘Never Grow Old (Re-Plant)’ by Floorplan aka Robert Hood, before closing on their seriously catchy ‘Tribesman’, which everyone sung along too in harmony, within seconds of hearing the first ‘Oh Lordy’.
Also, another arena which also deserves a special mention is the ‘Love juice’ arena, which every year, without fail, is always packed to the maximum inside, which even leads to people queuing outside to get inside and have some fun and enjoy the feel-good vibes. The music played in the arena is also themed around classic UK-Garage and House hits, and some current radio-friendly hits doing the rounds in sets, with DJs such as Nana Baah and O’neil McDowall dropping Offiah’s ‘Trouble’, Disciples ‘They Don’t Know’ and Dennis Ferrer’s ‘Hey Hey’. We Are FSTVL, if you’re reading this, next year, give Love Juice a bigger arena!
I personally think a lot of people at festivals always complain that the sound quality is not good enough; the volume being too loud or too low, or the bass being too heavy, and not enough crispness etc, however, We Are FSTVL’s sound technicians really nailed it this year! The balance was perfect, loud enough to hear right from the back of arenas, and not have vocals on tracks drowned-out etc. This was further complimented by a production team who worked well to ensure the DJ sets were aesthetically pleasing via an array of visuals including smoke, confetti, co2, strobe lights and lasers.
Overall, in conclusion, I would rate Sunday’s We Are FSTVL a great success, yes there was a downpour of rain for 30 minutes or so, but this is England, so always be prepared for the unexpected shower or two. But most importantly, the music, the artists, the travel arrangements put on via the organisers, the friendly staff, and the general vibes throughout the day were great, and I will be returning in 2018 to see how the festival can evolve and improve again, which it always manage to do.
We Are FSTVL 2018 Super Early Bird tickets on sale now: http://www.wearefstvl.com/
